


Camping Trip

by Taliax



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: AkuSaiRokuShiDay 2012, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Saix not being a jerk, semi-canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-04
Updated: 2012-08-04
Packaged: 2018-01-13 03:46:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1211383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taliax/pseuds/Taliax
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What better way to bring people who hate each other together than with a friendly camping trip? Axel hopes he can help his old best friend and his two new best friends get along, at least for one night. And maybe while they're at it, they'll actually have some fun.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Camping Trip

**Author's Note:**

> This is in a canon setting, but I messed up the timeline, and canon!Saïx wouldn't do any of this, so it is somewhat AU I guess. Being AkuSaiRokuShi and how much of a jerk Saï is in canon, it kind of has to be. :/ Some of Saïx's characterization was inspired by a picture on DeviantArt called "Puppets are Creepy" by Hanyou-no-miko.
> 
> AkuSaiRokuShi Day is August 4 because there are four of them, and it's in Axel's month because he's the one that holds the four of them together (since there's no way Roxas and Xion would associate with him otherwise).

"Let's gather 'round the campfire, and sing our campfire song. Our C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E S-O-N-"

"Shut up, Demyx." Axel rolled his eyes, stirring the floating fireball around with his fingers. It wasn't a real campfire, but since they didn't want to burn down the Grey Area and they had a magical pyro around, they at least had some sort of fire. "Do you want us to get busted?"

Xion shifted closer to the "campfire". "Are we not supposed to do this? I don't want Saïx to get mad at us. He already hates me." She frowned, pulling her legs close to her chest.

"Heh, you're talking like a somebody again," Axel replied, ruffling her hair. "He doesn't hate you. He can't." It was rather strange how he acted towards her, though, considering that…

Roxas shrugged. "It sure seems like it." He sprawled on top of his sleeping bag, hands behind his head and blowing a piece of hair out of his face.

"Well, that means he can't get mad at me for singing, right?" Demyx grinned, ignoring Roxas's comment, and strummed loudly on his sitar. "And if you don't think that we can sing it faster then you're wrong, it'll help if you just sing along!"

Roxas moaned and covered his ears to tune out Demyx's belting, which wouldn't actually sound so bad if it was turned down a dozen or so decibel levels, and Axel smacked Demyx with his pillow.

"Hey!" Demyx took his own pillow and threw it at Axel, but he missed and it flopped lamely next to the huge pile of other extra pillows.

"Why did I even invite you?" Axel muttered, flopping back and staring at the ceiling.

"'Cause I asked nicely." Demyx continued to play his sitar, though he did stop singing. For now.

The real reason Axel had invited him was because Xion had accidentally told him about their plan to camp out in the Grey Area, and he didn't want to listen to the Nocturne whine about being left out of stupidly awesome things. This particular scenario was probably more stupid than awesome, considering the possible punishments if they were caught, but Axel said that Roxas and Xion deserved to know what camping was like. Plus Axel just liked camping. It would've been more fun if they could've gone off-world for their campsite, but he couldn't risk them not RTCing in time for their missions and Saïx thinking they'd deserted or something.

"So what do we do now that you made the campfire?" Xion asked, stretching out her legs. "Besides sing campfire songs, of course."

Demyx looked a little happier that his song had been acknowledged as part of camping and began to sing again, receiving another pillow to the face from Axel.

"Man, what did you stuff that thing with, rocks?" Demyx rubbed his face while Axel just shrugged.

"I got them out of the basement. It could be stuffed with Void for all I know."

"You were in the _basement?"_ Roxas huddled closer to Xion and away from Axel like the redhead had a contagious disease.

Xion shuddered, eyes wide. "You mean The Basement That Doesn't Want to Be?"

Such an ironic name would've been humorous, but there were good reasons the basement didn't want to be. Like the fact that Xigbar kept his blackmail down there, among other reasons, which may include the secret ingredient in Xemnas's Ultimate Pie of Magical Awesomesauce. Oh, and Larxene might've tossed a few dead bodies down there, too. It certainly smelled like it.

Demyx squeaked and threw the pillow across the room –

Right into a very unamused Saïx's face. The possibly-Void-stuffed projectile thudded to the ground, along with any hope Demyx had of the blue-haired man not punishing him. With another undignified squeak, he fled through a dark corridor, leaving Roxas and Xion afraid of becoming victims of a berserk rampage. Axel wasn't too worried, since he usually managed to weasel out of punishment from Saïx, though he was concerned about keeping Roxas and Xion out of trouble.

"Axel." Saïx's monotone was more frightening than any booming yell. Roxas and Xion cowered together, trying to remind themselves that they couldn't feel fear. Supposedly, anyway.

The redheaded Nobody chuckled to hide his nervousness. "Hey, Saï. How do you like our campsite?"

Roxas facepalmed, thinking they would be Dusk'd for sure. Xion burrowed into her sleeping bag even though she knew it was too late. Saïx walked towards them, not showing any expression whatsoever. Even though Nobodies weren't supposed to feel, Roxas and Xion were always unnerved by how he didn't fake emotion to show what he was thinking, so they were shocked when he scowled in disapproval at Axel.

"You are hindering our progress. Our keybearers will not work as efficiently without proper rest."

This time Axel laughed for real. "Geez, Saï, you sound like a robot. Lighten up, we're about to make s'mores."

Saïx's eyes widened a tiny fraction, while Roxas and Xion's seemed to grow to twice their size.

"You're inviting _him?"_ Roxas asked in shock, not knowing that Saïx was thinking a toned-down version of that same sentence.

"...I have more important things to do than participate in such ridiculousness." Not really, unless he counted sleep as more important. Which under normal circumstances he would, but he hadn't done anything like this with his best friend in such a long time… Still, he couldn't let them think it was acceptable to pull stunts like this. "Return to your rooms. There's work to be done tomorrow."

Xion and Roxas exchanged disappointed glances as Saïx turned to leave, but Axel called out to him.

"C'mon, when was the last time you had s'mores? You're not going to make me deprive these helpless kids of a classic childhood treat, are you?"

"I'm not helpless!" Roxas objected, but Axel elbowed him into silence. It was his perfect chance to bring his new best friends and his old best friend together, if the three would just cooperate with him. The fact that Xion was hiding in her sleeping bag like Saïx was a rabid animal was not helping, and neither was Roxas's pouting.

"Clearly I am not wanted here," Saïx muttered softly, though he did stop. The firelight reflected on the back of his coat and illuminated Axel's features as he prodded Xion out of her sleeping bag.

"He's not gonna eat you," he whispered gently. "He used to be-" and hopefully still was, "-my best friend. I'm not asking you to marry him or anything; just give him a chance."

"After everything he said to Xion?" Roxas's eyes were hard, but she placed a hand on his shoulder.

"If Axel trusts him, we can at least try to." Axel wouldn't have been friends with him if he was a _total_ jerk, right? "I mean, I still don't like him, but it's not going to hurt us." Probably. She hoped.

Roxas stared like she was crazy, but eventually sighed and caved. "If you say so, guys."

Axel grinned and called to Saïx again. "We've got an extra sleeping bag. You're not gonna stand there all night, are you?"

Saïx shook his head, blue hair waving slightly. "No. I'm returning to sleep, and so should you."

"See? He doesn't like us either," Roxas whispered and crossed his arms as Saïx started to walk off again. This time Axel got up and went after him, grabbing his arm from behind.

"C'mon, man, when was the last time we went camping?"

Saïx let out an annoyed breath. Did Axel really need to bring that up? "I believe it was the time I stayed in the moonlight too long and nearly killed a squirrel with my bare hands."

"No squirrels around here," Axel pointed out with a smug grin.

"Because this is a deplorable excuse for camping. I expect more from you, Axel." Even without changing his expression, he appeared less cold than before.

Axel grinned wider. "Is that permission to go off-world?"

"…With supervision," Saïx amended. Who knew what trouble those three would get into otherwise.

"Yes!" Axel clapped a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I knew you wanted to come! Even you can't resist s'mores."

"I never implied I was in it for the s'mores," Saïx said, shoving Axel off of him.

"Heh, missed you too, Saï."

They returned to the fire, where Roxas and Xion were waiting with varying degrees of hope and apprehension on their faces.

"Pack your bags, kiddos, we're going on a _real_ camping trip."

XXX

Several minutes later, Axel had a fire going in a clearing in the middle of Dwarf Woodlands, their sleeping bags rolled out in a semicircle around the campfire and a heap of Void-stuffed pillows off to the side. Saïx took one end, Roxas took the other, and Axel and Xion were in the middle. Of course, Axel had to take the spot between Saïx and Xion. He didn't mind, but it would be nice if they didn't avoid each other like the plague…

Like now, how he was trying to hold up a conversation with all three of them at once while they toasted marshmallows, and Roxas and Saïx wouldn't say a word to each other. Xion wasn't much better, though she did attempt to ask Saïx how he and Axel had become friends. Saïx had brushed off the question, and Axel didn't particularly feel like brining up _that_ much of his past, so he changed the subject.

"Rox, that marshmallow's going to melt off your stick if you keep holding it there."

Roxas tried to whip his stick out of the center of the flames, but the marshmallow flung off and stuck itself in Saïx's hair instead. The older Nobody growled, Axel laughed, and Roxas flinched. Only Xion looked slightly sympathetic. Saïx tried to rip out the gooey mess but grimaced in pain, muttering threats to take away Roxas's mission rewards, and Axel's too while he was at it.

"It was just an accident," Axel said, reaching behind Xion to shove Roxas, who looked at him blankly. _Apologize,_ he mouthed.

"I'm, uh, sorry," Roxas said lamely. He didn't feel guilty at all for hurting Saïx, and though he was slightly scared for his life, he figured Axel would protect him if it came to that.

Saïx snorted, continuing to tug at the matted clump of white and blue. Feeling a little guilty of how she and Roxas were treating him, Xion cautiously stood and walked to Saïx's side. He glared at her for a moment, but Axel gave her an encouraging smile, and she began to slowly pick out the marshmallow goop. She pinched her fingers and slid them down some clumps of hair to wipe off as much stickiness as she could.

"Does that feel better?" She asked quietly.

"…Yes," he replied, not looking at her. Why did the puppet help him? He had made no effort to be kind to her, and frankly, if he had a heart he would dislike her greatly.

She nodded with a pleased smile that he couldn't see, and Axel ruffled her hair and gave her a bigger smile. Roxas got a new marshmallow, and they returned to making s'mores, with Saïx, Roxas, and Xion not completely ignoring each other anymore, though they still mostly communicated through Axel.

"You're burning that," Saïx told Axel, whose marshmallow was a charred black glob barely clinging to his stick.

"Yup." Axel grinned. Roxas frowned.

"You're going to do what I did," he said, taking his still-white marshmallow and sandwiching it between to graham crackers.

"Nope. You forgot the chocolate on that, by the way."

"Whoops…" Roxas sighed.

Xion giggled and handed him a third marshmallow from the bag, along with a piece of chocolate. "Be careful, Axel, Roxas is right."

"You're forgetting who knows best here." Axel flicked her head lightly. "I'm cooking it to perfection."

Saïx pulled his own golden-brown marshmallow out of the fire. "Your 'perfection' fell off, Axel."

"What?" Axel's head whipped back to the fire, where his marshmallow had melted into the ashes below. Roxas, Xion, and even Saïx all laughed. The two younger Nobodies were surprised at the unexpected sound.

"You have a nice laugh," Xion commented shyly. Saïx shut his mouth abruptly, not having realized he had been laughing, which made Axel laugh too.

"See? You _can_ laugh without a heart." He crossed his arms smugly, almost hitting Xion in the face with his hot stick.

"Watch where you're swinging that," she said as she ducked out of the way.

Roxas was dragged into their banter as well, and Saïx stared off into the fire, listening silently. They talked so easily, it was like they were somebodies… Was that a twinge of envy Saïx felt? Was that possible? Whether it was or not, he did miss the times when he and Axel talked like that.

Axel was still trying to reach out to him… Maybe it was Saïx's fault for being so focused on their goals that their friendship had been neglected. Maybe this camping trip would be good for him, ridiculous as it seemed, so he could "lighten up" as Axel put it. He would rather not be forced to do so around the two newest members, even after Xion had been kind to him…

"Yo, Saï! Are you gonna eat that s'more or doomgaze it?"

Saïx snapped out of his thoughts to find the other three staring at him and munching on their own s'mores, faces smeared with graham cracker crumbs and white-brown goop. Cautiously, trying to avoid such a mess, Saïx took a small bite out of his s'more.

"Ish goo', righ'?" Axel said with his mouth full.

Saïx swallowed before replying, "Not as much as before."

Roxas and Xion exchanged a confused glance, finding it hard to picture the stoic man eating s'mores even though they saw him doing so.

Axel frowned. "You're not going to be depressing all night, are you? Just because we don't have hearts doesn't mean we can't have fun. Right, guys?" He looked to Roxas and Xion for support.

Xion nodded. "There's still stuff we like to do, like have ice cream after missions, and…" She scrunched up her face in thought.

"That's pretty much all we like to do." Roxas shrugged. "Well, and this camping thing is sort of fun." It would've been more fun if Saïx wasn't there, he thought, but it would be a bad idea to point that out.

"See?" Axel grinned. "At least _try_ to have fun."

Saïx looked like the mere idea was painful. "…I suppose I can manage that," he muttered in a way that sounded vaguely threatening somehow, but Axel just laughed.

"That's all I ask. Now really, finish your s'more before it gets cold."

XXX

Saïx kept his word, and though he didn't laugh again and barely smiled, he did seem to be enjoying himself. Roxas and Xion managed to bury their Nobody versions of fear and/or hatred of him, and soon they were comfortable enough with his presence to act the way they usually only would around Axel.

"That was the lamest ghost story I've ever heard," Roxas deadpanned when Axel was finished.

"It's also the _only_ ghost story you've ever heard, Rox." Axel rolled his eyes but smiled. "That means it has to be the best one, too."

Xion giggled. "That's true. Someone else needs to tell a ghost story, so Axel's isn't best by default."

"I don't know any," Roxas said.

All eyes went to Saïx.

"Of course I would be the only one…" Saïx sighed.

"C'mon, you were great at scary stories!" Axel nudged him encouragingly. "Remember the one about the Shadows under the castle? And that werewolf one?"

Saïx did remember, quite clearly. "Because I based them off of things I was…" _truly afraid of,_ he didn't finish. Without a heart, how was he supposed to tell a convincing story?

Axel seemed to read his mind. "You don't need a heart for everything, Saï," he whispered. "You can still imagine things, right?"

"I never had much of an imagination in the first place." He didn't have to imagine the Heartless teeming below Radiant Garden's castle, because he knew they were there. The werewolf story didn't take much imagination, either; he knew of the moon's lunatic powers from experience. Only a few details were pieced together from his imagination.

"I'd like to hear one of your stories," Xion said, sitting on the edge of her sleeping bag close to the fire.

"Someone has to top Axel," Roxas added. It didn't particularly matter at this point that "someone" was Saïx.

Saïx sat cross-legged, his expression shadowed by the fire. He could've withstood the eager stares, and his pride made him want to, but he was beginning to get a vague idea for a story... Clearing his throat, he leaned closer to the fire.

"Once upon a time..." That opening made it sound more like a fairy tale, but Saïx had forgotten how he usually began his scary stories. "There was a mysterious creature called the Hooded Doll." He purposely kept his amber gaze off of Xion as he said this. "Nobody knew what the Hooded Doll truly was, for its face differed depending on who saw it. To most, it was a young girl, though a few others saw the face of an energetic boy."

Roxas gripped the edge of his sleeping bag, already interested in the tale. Xion wondered how the Doll could change its face and what was scary about it, but Axel was the only one who had an idea of what Saïx was getting at. Before he could interrupt, though, the blue-haired man continued in his ominous monotone.

"Some of the faces came from the viewers' past, but no matter what they saw, it was always a face they thought could be trusted. Only one man was different. He couldn't be fooled by the Hooded Doll, and he was the only one to see it as just that – a creature with a face shrouded in darkness under a black hood."

Xion shivered at the image, not knowing what she was afraid of was herself.

"Most were enchanted by the Doll's appearance, and that man tried to free them in vain. However, every time he tried to put an end to the Doll, the enchanted ones would come to its rescue, until one day it decided to fight back. The Hooded Doll tracked the man into a forest much like this one, and he was forced to flee because it drained too much energy for him to fight. Just when he thought he had escaped-"

"They held hands and skipped off into the sunset, and everyone lived happily ever after," Axel interrupted quickly, seeing the fear glowing from Roxas and Xion's faces – literally, they used their powers of light instinctively to add extra illumination when they were afraid. "We'll be right back; I need to get some storytelling tips from Saïx. Over there."

He grabbed Saïx's arm, yanked him to his feet, and dragged him out of the clearing. Once they were out of Roxas and Xion's earshot, Axel let him go and instead pinned him with a fiery glare, which Saïx returned with a cold yellow one of his own.

"Why did you do that?" Axel growled.

Saïx held his gaze. "You told me to make up a story."

"You were talking about Xion!" He yell-whispered, trying to keep their conversation secret and hold back his anger at the same time.

"Not necessarily. It was a work of fiction, which I am free to embellish as I wish." Saïx crossed his arms. He honestly hadn't intended to hurt anyone; Xion didn't know the truth of her existence (or lack thereof), and it was just a story. Though, Saïx had implied he was the man in the story, and that man had tried to kill the Doll… He could see how that might upset Axel.

"Don't give me that, Saïx! I'm trying to help you guys get along, and you scared them half to death!" He waved an arm furiously. "What do you have against her, anyway? She's never done anything to you!" Axel yelled, forgetting to hide their conversation from the younger two.

"Nobodies cannot feel fear," Saïx monotoned. "But… if we could…" He looked away from Axel's glare.

"What?" He took a step closer to his friend. With the firelight barely reaching them, he couldn't see the expression on his face.

"…I would say that her hooded face is unnerving."

Axel blinked in surprise. "Wait – you – you told that story because she really _does_ scare you?"

"I said no such thing." He paused, turning his back to Axel, who had to hide a snicker. It was so strange to imagine Saïx being afraid – if that was even possible – of a little girl like Xion, regardless of how many Heartless she could kill or how her face appeared to him. "I still don't understand what you and Roxas see in that creature."

He supposed if Saïx really did just see her as a puppet, it was understandable that he would be a little creeped out. After all, Axel didn't know why Roxas was friends with her until she took off her hood for him.

Axel put a hand on Saïx's shoulder. "If you gave _her –_ not it – a chance, maybe you would figure it out."

"Hmm…" Saïx wasn't so sure, but for his best friend… "Perhaps."

Axel smiled. "C'mon, let's go back. She's not gonna eat you or anything."

XXX

After Roxas and Xion had been calmed down and convinced no Hooded Doll would come out of the woods and put a spell on them, Axel came up with the next camping activity.

"Let's see, we've done s'mores and scary stories…" He drummed his fingers on the ground, then snapped when he got an idea. "How about Truth-or-Dare?"

"Absolutely not," Saïx objected immediately.

"Why not?" Xion asked.

"Is Truth-or-Dare bad?" Roxas looked between Axel's grin and Saïx's scowl in confusion.

"It's not a camping activity; it's an immature game most often played at girls' slumber parties to incite drama."

Roxas and Xion couldn't follow Saïx's vocabulary, so Axel translated, "Saïx just doesn't want to have fun." Well, maybe it wasn't an accurate translation, but it worked well enough.

"I wouldn't classify it as 'fun.' Surely you remember the last time you dragged me into this?"

"Heh, but you still wear those earrings, right?"

Roxas and Xion (somehow) put two and two together and burst out laughing.

"So _that's_ why he wears those!"

"Huh, wonder how I never noticed that before. Aren't earrings for girls?"

Saïx grumbled to himself but didn't grace Axel with a retort.

"Great, so you're in, right?" Axel grinned.

"I suppose I have no choice…" If his friend asked him to do anything that idiotic, though, he wouldn't hesitate to go into Boss Battle Mode on him.

"Nope, you don't." Axel shrugged, leaning back on his hands. "You can ask the first question to whoever you want, though."

Saïx sighed. "Fine. Truth or dare, Axel."

"Dare." He grinned mischievously. Roxas and Xion watched with rapt attention to figure out how the game worked.

"I dare you to strip naked and howl at the moon," Saïx deadpanned, recalling the one thing Isa had refused to do when Lea had forced him to play.

"Naughty Saïx, there's a lady present." Axel put an arm around Xion's shoulders as Roxas stared at Saïx in utter disbelief.

"Axel, I don't like this game." Xion's face turned even redder.

"Heh, don't worry, he was only joking. We're keeping this rated PG." Axel let her go and ruffled her hair. Roxas's jaw dropped.

" _Saïx_ made a _joke?"_

"Contrary to the common misconception, I do have some sense of humor," Saïx replied, only managing to confuse Roxas more.

"Yeah, he made a joke," Axel clarified. "Now really, what do you dare me to do?"

Saïx thought for a moment. "I dare you to go without ice cream for a week."

"A _week?"_ Axel gaped, then growled and shut his mouth. "Fine, no happiness for a whole week. That's just evil."

"Does that mean you won't be at the clocktower?" Roxas asked, anxiety highlighted by the fire.

"'Course I'll still be there, I just won't get any ice cream." He reached behind Xion to ruffle Roxas's hair. "Heh, and Saïx'll have to show up to make sure I go through with it."

Saïx hadn't thought about that. Neither had Roxas or Xion, but after spending this camping trip with him, it didn't sound too awful to let him join in their after-mission ritual.

"I suppose I will," Saïx mused.

"Roxas, you can go next," Axel said.

"Uh, so I just ask someone truth or dare?"

Axel nodded.

"Alright, I pick… Xion."

"Truth," she said, figuring it was the safer option.

"That means you ask her a question, and she has to answer it truthfully," Axel explained.

"Okay." Roxas frowned in though. "Why are girls complicated?"

Axel stifled laughter, and Xion looked between her two friends with her eyebrows scrunched together. "What do you mean, girls are complicated?"

"It's a long story…" Axel couldn't restrain his laughter anymore. Leave it to Roxas to ask a question like that.

"Axel said girls have buttons, and you can't press the wrong ones," Roxas said. Xion began examining herself, twisting around backwards to see if there were any buttons sticking out the back of her coat.

"I don't see any buttons." She patted herself down just to make sure. "I can't feel any, anyway."

Choking off his laughter again, the redhead facepalmed, and Saïx gave him a look that clearly said _"What are you teaching them?"_

"Axel…?" Xion trailed off, staring at him curiously.

"I didn't mean it literally." He raised his hands in defense.

Surprisingly, Saïx jumped in to explain. "It means females tend to be easily upset and take offense to minor issues."

Xion frowned, and Axel elbowed Saïx for his tactless answer.

"Only because guys do stupid stuff to upset them," Axel amended. Now Roxas was frowning, but he would get over it more easily than Xion would. Saïx was somewhat right, after all.

"Um… I don't know any other girls, and I don't really know how guys think compared to me, so…" She didn't want to accidentally hurt Roxas or Axel's feelings, so she left it at that.

"Go ahead and ask the next question, Xi," Axel said to change the subject. Roxas pouted at not getting a clear answer.

"Roxas, truth or dare?"

"Dare," he replied because that was what Axel had chosen.

"I dare you to… hmm… arm wrestle Axel," she said.

"Huh? Why?"

She shrugged. "It's the first thing I thought of."

"C'mon, you scared of losing?" Axel taunted, lying on his stomach with his elbow braced on the ground since they didn't have a table to arm wrestle on.

"No way!" Roxas swapped places with Xion and lay the same way, facing Axel and locking hands with him.

"Three… two… one…" Before Xion could say "go", Roxas and Axel had begun. For a moment it looked like the blonde was winning, but then Axel slammed his arm to the ground in one swift motion.

He grinned smugly. "I might not be as buff as Saïx, but I've had a lot more experience than you. Get it memorized." He tapped his temple as Roxas trudged back to his sleeping bag and Xion returned to hers.

"I'm not 'buff'," Saïx said, "you just lack arm muscles."

"Excuse me? Is that a challenge?" Axel grinned.

"If you see it that way."

Roxas didn't look depressed about losing anymore, and instead cheered along with Xion for Axel to arm wrestle Saïx. The stoic man adopted the same position Axel was in, and Xion again did the countdown.

"Three… two… one go!" She said, rushing the "go" to fit it in before they started.

Their hands didn't move at all, though both of their arms trembled.

"Heh… been a while… hasn't it?" Axel said, sounding strained.

"Congratulations, Axel. Your arms aren't quite as twig-like anymore." Saïx smirked, which made Roxas and Xion laugh. Axel was clearly putting in a lot of effort, but Saïx seemed calm and collected as ever.

"Come on, Axel!" Roxas yelled. "You're supposed to be the best!"

"Go, Axel! Go, Axel!" Xion chanted.

"At least I've got a fanclub," Axel said, laughing slightly. Saïx's arm was beginning to push his over. "C'mon…"

He put the last of his strength into it, but Saïx overpowered him and drove his arm into the ground.

"Aww, Axel!"

"Axel _lost?"_

Saïx smiled. "Do you remember the score?"

Axel grimaced. "One hundred seventy-eight to one."

"And that one was on your birthday." Saïx didn't normally gloat much, but it would do the younger members good to realize that Axel wasn't all-powerful.

"You lost _that many times?"_ Roxas's brain broke.

"Hey, I can't be the best at everything." Axel ran a hand through his hair, smiling. "I always beat Saïx in our races, though."

"Yes, I will admit that," Saïx said.

Changing the subject, Axel claimed the next turn as his own. "Saïx, truth or dare."

He was wary to answer any questions with Roxas and Xion in earshot, especially considering Axel would ask something embarrassing or personal that would make the lower-ranking members lose more respect for him than they already had, so he chose to accept a dare.

A sly grin spread across Axel's face. "I dare you to give Xion a hug."

For a split second surprise registered on Saïx's face, though he said nothing and quickly regained his composure. Instead it was Xion who objected first.

"Why did you dare him to do that?" She asked in shock.

"C'mon, Xi, he's not gonna give you rabies," Axel told her, but her eyes were still wide with apprehension. Saïx stood but made no move to approach her. "Saïx, she won't give _you_ rabies, either."

Figuring it was best to just get it over with, he walked over to Xion, who stood nervously so he could hug her. He didn't look her in the eyes, or where they would be if he could see them. No matter what Axel said or how much he gushed over her, dolls were still creepy.

Saïx finally put stiff arms around her, and she patted his back awkwardly before they backed out of the short embrace.

"There. Done." Saïx went back to his sleeping bag, and Axel laughed at the amount of discomfort on his face. Even though Roxas felt bad for Xion, having to be hugged by the strict man, he couldn't help laughing along as well.

"Now that didn't kill anyone, did it?" Axel grinned.

"Can we play something else now?" Xion asked. She didn't know why Axel had dared Saïx to do that, and she didn't want to deal with any more possible awkwardness.

Surprisingly, it was Roxas who came to her rescue with the next idea. Grabbing a pillow from the giant pile behind him, he launched it at Axel's head.

"Pillow fight!" He yelled, and Xion giggled and stole two pillows from the pile as well.

"Man, I think these _are_ stuffed with Void. Would've expected Void to be a lot lighter, though," Axel muttered, diving under Xion's attack and taking a pillow for himself. "Catch, Saï!" He tossed another one over Roxas's head, and Saïx snatched it from the air.

"I find it somewhat impressive that you've managed to go ten years without maturing," he commented.

Axel blocked Roxas's off-balance swing at his leg. "And I'm impressed that you can be twenty-five and act like you're forty." He rolled his eyes. "Now come over here and help me out!"

Both Roxas and Xion had ganged up on their friend, giggling madly, and with a sigh Saïx came to Axel's aid. He whacked the back of Xion's head, and she whirled around to swing at him.

"Hey, Saïx is playing too!" She yelled happily.

"Really?" Roxas peered around Axel to see and got knocked over while he was distracted.

"C'mon, you fight like a Demyx!" Axel taunted, letting him get back up before hitting him with the Void-stuffed weapon again.

"No I don't!" Roxas objected, hurling his pillow with so much force Axel was knocked off-balance and fell on Xion, who crashed into Saïx, leaving the three in a disheveled pile and glaring at Roxas.

"Get him!" Xion cheered, laughing madly and lunging at her friend with her pillow bared. Saïx, though annoyed at having been at the bottom of the Nobody-pile, joined in chasing the blonde around the campfire. Axel whooped and grabbed an armful of pillows, lobbing them at Roxas.

"This is so not fair!" He protested, covering his head with his arms as he was buried under the projectiles. Axel and Xion laughed, and even Saïx smiled a little. They dug Roxas out from under the pillows and started an all-out, four-way brawl.

"Haha, I hit _Saïx!_ With a _pillow_!" Roxas whooped after smacking the higher-ranking member in the back. He wouldn't have ever imagined doing something so stupid before today. Maybe Saïx wasn't so bad after all.

Then the man flung a pillow at his face, and Roxas thudded to the ground, still laughing maniacally. Meanwhile, Xion twirled two pillows by their corners, whirling them at Axel in rapid succession.

"This is awesome!" She cheered. Axel ducked and swept her legs out from under her with his pillow.

"Oh, so you thought you could get away with that, did you?" He grinned and pulled out his secret weapon: the Ultimate Tickle Attack of Doom.

"Noooo!" She howled with laughter. "Have mercy! I'm gonna die!"

Axel cackled, still tickling her, until Saïx crashed a pillow down on his head. "Ow!"

"Tickling. Honestly, Axel, I thought you were above that." Saïx shook his head in mock disappointment.

"Oh really? Well I'm not above this!" Axel swung his pillow up at his friend's face, and they began to duel.

Roxas got up from where he'd been splayed on the ground and sat next to Xion. "Wow, they're really good."

She watched Axel grab a pillow from the ground and dual-wielded, striking with ninja-like speed. "They look like professionals. Are there such things as professional pillow-fighters?"

Roxas just shrugged.

The fight was heating up – literally, Axel lit one of his pillows on fire, though thankfully Organization coats were relatively fireproof and Void wasn't very combustible. Roxas and Xion couldn't tell who was winning; Saïx's hits were precise and more powerful, but Axel was so fast and dodged away from most strikes. Eventually, though, Axel landed a hit with both pillows on the back of Saïx's knees, making him collapse.

"Heh, looks like I win this round." Axel grinned, helping Saïx to his feet.

"I haven't done anything this immature in years," he mused. Axel clapped him on the back.

"That's what I'm here for. So you don't turn into a grouchy old man like Vexen."

Axel, Roxas, and Xion laughed, returning to their sleeping bags. Saïx lay down on his, arms folded across his chest.

"…Thank you, Axel," he said after a long period of staring up at the stars through the gaps in the thick canopy. Axel grinned.

"Cooouldn't quite catch that," he teased.

"Hmph. Too bad; you won't hear it again."

"Heh. Well you're welcome, Saï." Axel sprawled out on his own sleeping bag, tucking his hands behind his head. "You tired yet, kiddos?"

The only response was a huge snore from Roxas. Axel glanced over to see Xion roll towards the blonde in her sleep, and the two cuddled together like a litter of kittens.

"Man, those two are too cute for their own good," he commented. "What do you think, Saïx?"

The blue-haired man closed his eyes. Unlike his friend, he didn't have a weakness for cute things, but there was something else that made numbers XIII and XIV different from the other members besides their youth. "…I can see why you're friends with them now."

"Hm?" Axel turned his head towards him, but Saïx kept his eyes closed.

"I don't understand how they act so human," he said softly. "It shouldn't be possible."

Axel chuckled quietly. "Yep, that's them. Doing the impossible, day in and day out. Sometimes I wonder… I don't know how, but they make me feel… like I have a heart."

Sure, Saïx could see that they acted human, but to make Axel feel as well? Impossible… Or it should be, anyway. Saïx wasn't quite sure what was possible and what wasn't anymore. He hadn't thought he could laugh or have fun before today, but then again, he hadn't truly tried before, either.

"Who knows," Axel mused when Saïx didn't reply. "Maybe we don't need Kingdom Hearts after all. Maybe we've been wrong this whole time." He shrugged. "How do we know Xemnas is telling us the truth about anything?"

"We don't," Saïx muttered. "But what else can we do?"

"What I've been saying. Just stick with the people who matter and try to feel, until we can for real. I'm starting to think that'll do the trick."

"I don't think it can be quite that simple," Saïx replied, still with his eyes closed.

"Maybe that's our problem. We think the simple things don't matter." Axel rolled onto his stomach and snapped to put out the fire. "Just think about it."

Saïx did, as the woods were cloaked in moonlit shades of grey, and he decided that even if it didn't work, it couldn't hurt to try. The gentle hum of forest wildlife and even gentler breathing were the only noises as he gazed up at the trees and stars.

Somehow this was the most enjoyable camping trip he'd ever had… If it meant more times like this, maybe he could grow to like Axel's two young friends.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> "Doomgaze" is Raberba girl's word. I am a fail and could absolutely not think of anything else Axel would say at that particular moment. My headcanon has been corrupted. XD
> 
> I don't think Xion would actually be that forgiving towards Saïx, but Roxas was already being kind of a jerk, and it was depressing me too much to write them both being jerks to Saïx. I feel like Axel; I just want all of them to get along. Stupid canon apparently does not agree with me. ;;
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoyed, and happy AkuSaiRokuShi Day!


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